Researchers have identified a mutation in a small number of black American men with a family history of prostate cancer

This germline mutation of the androgen receptor (AR) may prove to be a genetic biomarker for familial prostate cancer in the black American male population. Black American men have a higher incidence of prostate cancer than any other racial group. Scientists have found a germline AR-A1675T substitution mutation in the DNA-binding domain in three black American men with a family history of early-onset prostate cancer. This mutation may contribute to prostate cancer by altering the AR DNA-binding affinity and its response to androgens, non-androgenic steroids or anti-androgens.